Reviews

The Sims 2

This level of detail extends throughout the whole title. A virtual dollhouse? Sure, one where the clocks actually tell time, where the televisions show moving video programs, and where sims can paint portraits of anything you choose and then hang them on the wall when they're done. When two sims play chess together, they actually move the pieces in a real chess game. You can watch to see who will win, and see the winner celebrate with a big happy smile. Sims 2 is crazy immersive.

It's hard to tell how deep the simulation actually is, but it's complex enough to continually surprise. Sims have individual personalities and their own interests (familiar to anyone who installed the Hot Date expansion to the original game). You can watch them talk about different topics and react to one another accordingly ("The environment? Again? Booo-ooring!") Sims have their own memories, so you can see what they're thinking about as they stroll around the house. One of my sims proposed to another and was rejected: for several days he moped around, thinking about it occasionally and sobbing.

Sims age, and each transition is the perfect excuse for a party.

It's hard not to feel for the sims as they go through life, or to read into them more than the game is probably simulating: jealously, lust, love, hate? Sometimes you just never know. During one play session my wife inadvertently found herself in control of one messed-up family (see the Extended Review for the whole story). It all seemed funny until she heard a noise once and scrolled down to find their little boy in bed, thinking of his mother and sobbing quietly. For a split second, the sims seemed so real...

Sims 2: The Game

Hardcore gamers had mixed reactions to the original Sims, which was understandable. It was more of a toy than a game. If you were looking for win/lose conditions, it wasn't rocket science to figure out how to make your sim earn a lot of money or get promoted. If that was all you were looking for, the original game got repetitive. Is the sequel going to be more compelling to hardcore gamers?

Yes and no. If you're looking for some sort of strategy game where you can learn a technique, win the game, and brag about your victories online, then don't be fooled by the five-star rating -- this isn't really that type of game. It's just as open-ended as ever.

But from a pure gameplay standpoint, Sims 2 offers a lot more than the original to keep it from being repetitive and to keep throwing interesting decisions your way. For one thing, your sims' basic needs aren't the only thing you're worried about. They now have wants and desires to attain and fears to avoid. This gives you a little more to sink your teeth into. After all, if a sim needs to pee, there's really no decision to make -- you just click on the toilet. But in Sims 2, sims often want things that don't have obvious solutions. What if your sim wants to make Woo-Hoo (aka, "do the nasty") in public? And what if your sim's boyfriend doesn't want to? Well, now you've got real decisions to make! Do you ignore the want and try to make your sim happy in other ways? Do you have her cheat on her boyfriend and Woo-Hoo with someone friskier? Do you buy the special sunglasses that make your sim irresistible? Do you dump his puritan ass? Sims 2 forces you into decisions like that, which ultimately make for a more interesting game.